Intaglio Workshop

This summer I had the amazing opportunity to take a week long workshop at Arrowmount School of arts and crafts in Gatlinburg Tennessee, with Melissa Harshman, a master Printmaker, on alternative techniques for safer intaglio. I was able to create 3 images in 4 days, as I had the benefit to focus solely on my work, and achieved more than I ever thought possible in such a short span of time. What also made this such an inspiring and motivational experience is living within a community of people who have a shared passion for art and creativity. By talking with residential artist and fellow students about their journeys to get to where they are now, I began to identify how I can further my career path.

I want to share what I have learned from this past week and encourage others to try these methods.

Safer methods                                                            Traditional (Hazards methods) 

To degrease and polish the plate:
-Apply whiting powder mixed with water  -Clean with Soy Sauce (or can use salt with vinegar)  -Vinegar bath will also remove oxidation	Comet, and similar cleaners, contain dangerous chemicals such as sodium hypochlorite, also known as bleach, which can cause serious short- and long-term side effects if inhaled
Alternative Grounds:
-Baldwin’s Ink Ground  ‘Big’  Provided a non-toxic alternative but also a ground which is more versatile.	Traditional etching ground contains arsenic, lead, mercury to name but a few toxic elements which can not only be breathed in through your airways but also absorbed through your skin.
Clean Up:
-Vegetable oil for oil -based inks  – citristrip to remove grounds	-Mineral spirits solvents  – Turpentine
Aquatint:
Used Zea Mays DIY Soft  ground, made with soy wax and litho ink, in an air brush and her DIY stop-out to create value and depth. (Everaert, 2001)	Traditionally, the plate is dusted with finely powdered resin or asphaltum aquatint, both toxic and can produce fumes that are extremely dangerous and carcinogenic
Lift-ground etching
Andrew Baldwin Coffee Lift with “Big Ground” www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4iak-CMpvw&t=12s.	Sugar lift with asphaltum based ground.

Everaert, Marnix. “DIY SOY WAX/LITHO INK SOFT GROUND ON COPPER -.” Zea Mays Virtual World Tour , 2001. 

Atb1uk, director. Andrew Baldwin Coffee Lift Demo. YouTube, YouTube, 29 May 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4iak-CMpvw&t=12s.